HSMWorks 2018 R1 development release

[fonsecr]

The HSMWorks 2018 R1 development release is now available and this is the upcoming final release at the same time.

From the 2018 release we can going to keep Inventor HSM and HSMWorks on more similar release cycles.

1. Please note that we have changed the HSMWorks installer to be the same as the ordinary Autodesk products now. Any old installs of HSMWorks/HSMXpress will be automatically uninstalled when installating the 2018 and later releases.

2. For the 2018 release is have removed the requirement for license for HSMXpress. But have at the same time added analytics in both HSMWorks/HSMXpress to help us better understand how the products are used. Please consider keeping this enabled so we can get a good picture of what you are doing with the software. The data collected is anonymous and you can disable it under Data collection in Preferences if you want to.

You can see the fixes on our development release page:

http://www.hsmworks.com/download/experimental

[fonsecr]

3. I forgot to mention that we are finally deprecating 32-bit support from 2018 and forward. So only 64-bit Windows from now on.

[Steinwerks]

Can't activate with 2017 Ultimate serial (this is a fresh install of SW2017SP2 and HSMWorks 2018 R1.41803).

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

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@Steinwerks wrote:

Can't activate with 2017 Ultimate serial (this is a fresh install of SW2017SP2 and HSMWorks 2018 R1.41803).

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@Steinwerks

You tried HSMWorks2018-R1.41803?

Or HSMWorks2018-R1.41801

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

@fonsecr

Why is the download 500Mb Big when the install is only 200Mb?

And indeed there are no 2018 licenses given out yet so it doesn't activate. But you can run in not activated mode.

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

@fonsecr

Any reason why there no longer is the option to backplot in the HSMEdit?

[scottmoyse]

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@Laurens-3DTechDraw wrote:

@fonsecr

Any reason why there no longer is the option to backplot in the HSMEdit?

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I hope that's a mistake.

[scottmoyse]

Can someone please explain why HSMWorks is compatible with the next release of Solidworks nearly two months before the release of Solidworks each year, but the same doesn't happen with Inventor HSM? Then this year the first 2018 build of CAM we get is for Solidworks when Inventor 2018 has already been released?

It's a bit weird that support for Autodesks​ own CAD product isn't as good as it is for the competitor CAD product.

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

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@scottmoyse wrote:

Can someone please explain why HSMWorks is compatible with the next release of Solidworks nearly two months before the release of Solidworks each year, but the same doesn't happen with Inventor HSM? Then this year the first 2018 build of CAM we get is for Solidworks when Inventor 2018 has already been released?

It's a bit weird that support for Autodesks​ own CAD product isn't as good as it is for the competitor CAD product.

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Because of the reason the naming changed to Inventor/Autodesk schedule and not Solidworks Schedule. So the naming doesn't say much on which version of Solidworks it actually supports anymore.

[scottmoyse]

Laurens. A name change doesn't explain why the new release of Inventor isn't supported by HSM until well after it's released each year....

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

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@scottmoyse wrote:
Laurens. A name change doesn't explain why the new release of Inventor isn't supported by HSM until well after it's released each year....

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That I agree with.

But that doesn't mean a HSMWorks release that supports the new Solidworks version is released 2 months before hand.

We can conclude that SolidWorks is much more mature than Inventor so it doesn't change as much as Inventor does. And they aren't connected as deep. So changes to Inventor could impact the CAM side much harder. I guess.

Still should be at the same time or within a couple of weeks.

[scottmoyse]

Sorry Laurens, That's complete crap.

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

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@scottmoyse wrote:
Sorry Laurens, That's complete crap.

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Alright where does it say this release supports Solidworks 2018 then?

And it is not. Solidworks hasn't changed much over the last 5 years. Little update here and there, but the API all the plug-ins use probably hasn't changed much. Where with inventor the changes have been much bigger in my opinion, and we know Inventor has been changed on request by CAM team.

[jeff.pek]

Hi guys,

Let me try to address the questions raised here...

1) Re the editor. Unfortunately, we have had to drop back to a version of the CIMCO editor that does not support backplotting, as default delivered with Inventor HSM and HSMWorks. This is due to contractual issues. CIMCO continues to offer their full editor, which includes backplotting, which would be available as an upgrade.

2) Release timing. Official FY18 releases of both of the Autodesk HSM components (Inventor HSM and HSMWorks) are imminent. We chose to release a dev build of HSMWorks to get a last-minute test pass. We had lingering problems to correct with Inventor HSM, and so couldn't do this.

3) Inventor 2018 support. As was indicated, we are actually tied a little more tightly to the Inventor internals than we are with SOLIDWORKS. This means that we need to stay more closely aligned to specific builds. We've had an Inventor 2018 build of Inventor HSM operational for some time, but we had to wait until it was officially released in order to release a corresponding Inventor HSM. This will always lag, due to release coordination efforts, testing, and finalization work that was happening for the release. In reality, we are releasing an official release of Inventor HSM much closer to the release of Inventor 2018 than we did for SOLIDWORKS 2017.

We're trying to finish up the last bits of the release mechanism. I hope that official builds of both components, as part of Autodesk HSM 2018, are released very soon.

Jeff

[scottmoyse]

Jeff. You might be releasing an official release closer to RTM with Inventor HSM 2018 than you did with HSMWorks 2017. But they were extenuating circumstances due to the licensing and packaging changes. HSMWorks users were able to test integration with Solidworks a lot sooner than Inventor HSM users have been able to since Inventor HSM's birth...

If the vault team can get themselves together for a single compatible build with an Inventor beta, then surely the CAM team can as well. As it stands you will be releasing this year's Autodesk CAM product for Inventor with minimal public testing or feedback on the new Inventor 2018 UI and browser system.

I also don't get how you have to tie HSM to an inventor​ build, when that isn't the case later on in the release cycle. We didn't need a specific build of HSM for Inventor 2017 R2 & R3 etc.

And for the record Laurens... My total crap comment related to your Solidworks maturity / API stability comment.

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

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@jeff.pek wrote:

Hi guys,

Let me try to address the questions raised here...

1) Re the editor. Unfortunately, we have had to drop back to a version of the CIMCO editor that does not support backplotting, as default delivered with Inventor HSM and HSMWorks. This is due to contractual issues. CIMCO continues to offer their full editor, which includes backplotting, which would be available as an upgrade.

Jeff

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Hi @jeff.pek

I hate the ask this but is this a case of the version with back-plot was too expensive or didn't they want to sell it to you anymore?

Because that makes a huge difference to the user. And will you be making the upgrade available or will they?

Can we contact the local CIMCO rep for that? Because I have the feeling they would have no clue on what I'm asking and how to handle upgrade for a Autodesk contract license.  And buying a whole new license is seriously overkill for people who expect it to be included with the software. (HSM was sold for years with the promise of it being in there and still shown here: http://www.autodesk.com/products/cam/features/simulation-verification-tools/cnc-output-edit)

[Lonnie.Cady]

That is definitely not good news.  It does not really affect me but does factor in to the decision to ever upgrade. So as long as I don't update I can backplot, if I upgrade at some point I loose it???  Does not seem like a great solution to me.  Many people have relied on it for many years. 

[Steinwerks]

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@jeff.pek wrote:

Hi guys,

Let me try to address the questions raised here...

1) Re the editor. Unfortunately, we have had to drop back to a version of the CIMCO editor that does not support backplotting, as default delivered with Inventor HSM and HSMWorks. This is due to contractual issues. CIMCO continues to offer their full editor, which includes backplotting, which would be available as an upgrade.

Jeff

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It's now been said twice, but this is BAD. REALLY BAD.

I use backplot every day and now I'm going to have to convince management to buy software to support me that was previously more functional just days ago?

You're likely not aware of this, nor should you have any need to be, but the backplot feature was one argument in my arsenal to sell HSMWorks to my bosses. Our then-license of Predator that came with CAMWorks couldn't backplot either and I thought that was terrible. Which it was.

Tack on to that the Autodesk Desktop app that I view as bloatware and so far the argument for moving to HSMWorks 2018 R1 is a poor decision. There's no new functionality in the CAM aside from what seem to be a few bug fixes, no probing yet, no big turning improvements, and jeez, still doesn't even get tabs in 2D Contour.

It's becoming increasingly frustrating to keep going to the shop manager and telling him the same things I've been fed: improvements are coming. Someday.

Ever heard the term rage quit? That's what I felt like doing when I saw the removal of backplot this morning in my email update.

/rant

[cjones]

Hi,

Does this loss of backplot in 2018 also apply to Inventor HSM (and not just HSMWorks)?  I really hope not because paying yearly maintenance should be buying me improvements rather than removal of features.

thanks.

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi,

Does this loss of backplot in 2018 also apply to Inventor HSM (and not just HSMWorks)?  I really hope not because paying yearly maintenance should be buying me improvements rather than removal of features.

thanks.

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Since they are one license, I'm pretty sure the answer is yes.